The Janitor
by marblememo
Summary: The day before my 18 birthday I was taken from the orphanage I had lived at for most of my life and is taken to an island to work as get this, a janitor. I meet strange people on the isle of Nomanisan and find even stranger adventures.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: If you can't tell already my other story 'Ridiculous' is on temporary hiatus because of the fact that my muse is kinda forcing me to do this story. First off. The Incredibles. The movie that over the summer my little brothers forced me to watch about… a thousand and six times. And you try watching the movie that many times and not notice how syndrome is kinda a cutie. Call me weird or whatever. Second and Final note before I dive right into this story is that it's a Syndrom X OC story. Not that I have anything against synlet I in fact like it very much. I even tried to cast violet as the janitor but I just couldn't see her that way. And without further ado read and review. (and once again, LOL rhyme-age) **

_**Chapter 1**_

_Knock, knock, knock_

"Lily wake up! I know you're in there!" the unwitting victim yelled out to me.

_Knock, knock, knock_

"Lily! Dammit girl get up now! There is someone here to see you!" the voice yelled out again. Damn she is annoying.

My eyes slammed open. It was Megan, one of the orphanage volunteers. I was older then her and she just loved to boss me around.

_Someone here to see me? But who? I turn 18 tomorrow so I doubt that I'm finally getting adopted. _

_Knock, knock, KNOCK!!!_

"I'm coming! I'm coming! Just let me get some clothes on and I'll be right there!"

"Fine! But hurry the hell up! looked like she was about to piss her pants when she told me to come get you. So hurry up and get to her office." She sounded annoyed and soon after stomped off in the direction of the kitchen. _Figures she's probably almost bankrupted the orphanage eating all of our food. It was all us orphans little inside joke._ I gave a small smile. I grabbed some random articles of clothing from the floor and performed the sniff test on them. Deeming them suitable I rushed to throw them on along with my favorite blue chucks and jogged on my way to Ms. Grey's office.

The door was slightly open when I arrived and I could hear talking to some mystery visitor in her 'please dear god just adopt this child and leave because I don't think I could stand another minute around these parentless bottom feeders'.

"I really have no idea what is taking that child so long" she said in her over cheery voice. I shuddered. She was talking about me. And I was getting quite nervous with how Megan and were acting today. I hope nothing is going on because I'm looking forward to finally being out on my own.

"Oh look! Here she is. Silly girl sneaking about is something I thought I've told you to stop my dear" Drat. I had been found out by the Grey Dragon herself.

"Now, ah this is the girl I believe fits your needs perfectly. Not only that, but she is also not shy to physical labor" My eyes widened. _Holy crap. What the hell is going on here? I swear to god if is selling my off as a sex slave I am going to be so pissed._

"Yes I see, I do believe that she will get her job done well for the boss" the mysterious unseen stranger said. It was a woman. She sounded very pretty I already felt weird and now I was just getting a little more than unnerved. "Now if you will please produce her papers, school records, social security card and any other form of identification then I will be on my way with the girl" that wasn't suspicious at all, nope.

shuffled around a little and handed the woman, who I now saw was fairly tan and had platinum blond hair, all of the aforementioned articles. The woman then brought out a fairly nice and shiny lighter opened the top and flicked the wheel, producing a little flame. She brought it up close to the documents in her hand lit the tip of it on fire. My eyes widened even more. What the hell is going on here? She dropped the flaming papers into the metal wastebasket and wiped her hands as if she had just done some extremely tedious task.

did not even seem phased by the spectacle before her.

The woman turned towards me and said "Now, Lily is it? Pack up everything you can and meet me in front of the building in 20 minutes. It's the black car. Tinted windows. I'm sure it will stick out to you, since I doubt you have even seen a house worth that much. And remember 20 minutes, you will be briefed on your job in the car on the way to the airport."

Car? Tinted windows? Did she just insult me? And airport? What the hell?

"Wait a minute, what the hell-" I inserted.

"No questions until you are briefed, now run along and pack" Damn, bitch.

But not wanting to anger Malibu Barbie any further I turned around and rushed out to my room. Curious eyes followed my every move. We didn't get many non-potential parent visitors here and since I was the oldest one here I doubt they thought I was finally getting adopted.

I slipped into my room and looked around. Damn this place is a mess. But no time to think I miss be quick and pack. I was getting myself kind of excited. This was a new future a new adventure. A chance to get away from the place I was forced to call a home for the past 15 years. I grabbed my duffel bag from under my bed and stuffed clothes into it. Once I had gathered most of my frequently worn articles I grabbed a random assortment of knickknacks, books and other random bits of junk.

I glanced at my wrist. Then realized I had no reason to since I didn't have a watch on. Let alone have I ever owned a watch. Instead I glanced over at the alarm clock. Done with three minutes to spare. Just enough time to say a quick goodbye to the little ones. They were always my favorites. What can I say? I loved kids. I hoped to have a least one of my own one day.

I practically sprinted into the nursery and took a couple of seconds each to say goodbye to each of the little kids.

"Make sure you little fuckers be good so you can get out of this hole okay?" I whispered to the last one. Jasper. He was a new addition to this little family. He gave me a clueless, toothless, baby smile. I smiled back. Then ran out the door. I was running on an excess of energy. I was way to hyper right now. Running was a good way to get out energy.

"Bye, !" I yelled behind me as I rushed through the front door. And right there. Just as whats-her-face said it would be, was the fancy looking car, tinted windows. The door opened.

"Are you coming are do we need to find a replacement for you already?" the same woman asked.

"Um, no. Uh, of course not" I stuttered.

"Well then get in, I'm sure you have enough brain compactly to at least do that." Ouch.

I stepped into the car and I must say it was a pretty kickass car. Across from me stood the woman from the office. The door shut and the car started driving forward.

"Now, to begin with, my name is Mirage. And as off a couple of minutes ago in your charming 's office, you don't exist. And neither do I. Well according to the government that is." She gave a smile.

She continued. "Now you have been chosen for a needed position for an employer of mine." From the floor of the car popped up an incredibly awesome looking holographic map.

"epic" I whispered.

"Now, you will now be living on an island known only as Nomanisan." It popped up on the screen. _Epic-er. _"your job although small is very important. You will be the bases new custodial manager."

"So basically I'm just a glorified janitor?" I said, tone flat.

"Yes, you are" she replied.

"So, I'm going to go around cleaning…what exactly?"

"The base, you know. Moping Corridors, dusting every now and then. Making sure the place is clean enough to be livable. Speaking of, you will be living in the high profile quarters, permanently. You will be paid although I have no idea what you would spend any money on since you will not be permitted to go off the island that often." She paused to take a breath. "And it would be in your best interest if you were to stay away from the boss, a man known as Syndrome to you and everyone else."

"Ma'am yes ma'am" I said sarcasticly. Mirage seemed to take no notice.

"Now, we will be spending a couple more minutes in the car, then which you will be transported to a jet which will take you straight to a Nomanisan air hanger. There a guard will be waiting for you, and he will take you to your quarters. You will start your job tomorrow morning. A list of areas you will work on as well as the product you will use will be available. Also some places you have restricted access to. You will know what areas you are allowed to go into by your security clearance. If a door does not open for you, you are not allowed in that area. Is that clear?" she stated. She likes to talk a lot.

"Crystal ma'am"

I spent the rest of the drive daydreaming and the while plane ride doing the same. When I stepped foot off the plane and into the hanger. I was at the mouth of the hanger and had a good view of the volcano that I guess I would be living in. I shielded my eyes from the sun and took a nice long look.

"pretty nice place they got here. Don'cha think?" I asked a random guard in the vicinity. I simply stood still and acted as if I hadn't said anything at all.

"Very well said" I said to my unanswered comrade. And turned around and followed the person who was supposed to take me to my new quarters.


	2. Chapter 2

**Well here is Chapter dos. I must say, I got this up a lot sooner than I expected. And I also made some revisions to the first chapter, basic spelling errors and etc. since I was too lazy to do that at 4am when I first uploaded it. Now read and review, if you do then I shall give you and invisible cookie. –marblememo**

_**Chapter 2**_

In the distance I could hear the shrill high pitched beeping of my alarm clock. But wait it sounded different then my old one. Did switch 'em out while I was asleep? Then it all came flooding back to me. I was on an island, one with a volcano. Which is pretty awesome. But then it also means that I have to start work today.

I struggled to get out of my bed. It was nicer than the one at the orphanage, and a lot bigger, everything here was bigger than it was at the orphanage. I even had a kitchen in my room, and my own private bathroom. No more sharing with angsty preteen girls. I had already unpacked everything I owned into the place I decided it would belong. I even threw some clothes around on the floor to make the place feel more like home. I was the new janitor and I was a person who needed to leave with some kind of disarray to things in my room. Strange huh?

I walked into my kitchen and grabbed myself a glass of water and chugged it. Ah water, it's awesome. I walked back into the bed area and tried to decide what to wear on my first day on the job. I couldn't decide and just closed my eyes and picked out a random shirt, pants, and a pair of socks.

I handed ended up with a nice fitting grey long sleeve shirt, a pair of hip hugging yet baggy black jeans, and a pair of green and black mismatched socks. Job well done blind me.

With my cloths on and some lukewarm coffee sloshing in my stomach I walked into the small walk-in closet that held all my cleaning supplies. And I was trying desperately not to depress myself with the fact that as of the moment I had no future other then cleaning up after a bunch of people I don't even know. The schedule on the door said that since today is…Monday I have to mop the mansion. Wow…I think that was a rhyme. The consonant rhyme I do believe, thank you for forcing at least one thing into my rebellious brain.

I grabbed my mop and slung it over my shoulder, the bucket hanging from it handle. I filled the bucket with water and cleaning solution and went on my way.

--

I was almost finished with this day's work when I heard some yelling farther down the hall. I raised my head from the ground and looked towards where the commotion was coming from. In the distance I could see a man in a long white coat, probably a scientist that's working on…something that I'm not allowed to know about. With the scientists was from what I could see was a tall man with even taller flaming red hair. I sniggered to myself, 80's much?

The redhead appeared to be yelling at the scientists, I stopped working for a little bit and leaned on my mop and check on what was going on. The redhead grabbed a clipboard from the scientists hands. Scanned it, flipped a page or two and then turned and threw it up against the wall. Red pointed at the scientists and proceeded to yell a few intelligible phrases that I was sure contained a couple of expletives. The scientist looked flustered, even from here I could see his face was almost has red as Red's hair. He shook a little bit and bent down quickly to grab his clipboard, turned heel and ran off in the opposite direction from me.

Red glared, I assumed, at the retreating scientist and then turned my direction and started doing a strange speed walking, angry stomping thing. I quickly tried to look bust again so he wouldn't realize that I had been eaves dropping. He was coming closer and stepped into a wet area that I had just mopped. Crap.

Red slipped. His foot slid a little bit until he reached me. I don't know how but he somehow used me to regain his balance and ended up having me tumbling to the floor. I landed on my butt and looked up at him from under my short, black, messy hair and glared at him. He glared right back at me. I could tell that deep down behind those eyes he was blaming his near fall on me.

I glared for another second or two and then piped up "watch what you're doing! Who are you?! I don't remember hiring you!" he yelled.

I took my time picking my self up off the floor and dusting myself off. "I" I started saying trying to keep my voice even. "am the Janitor, and I would take it kindly if you please watch what the hell your doing. It's my job to keep the fucking place clean and my job gets that much harder when some ass hole like you prevents me from doing my work by almost putting me in the hospital. Now if you wouldn't mind, can you please go the fuck away so I can finish." I told him sweetly. Amazed with myself how such filthy words can come in such a sweet sounding voice.

His glare intensified, his face got red. I guess that this guy is not one who is used to being challenged. And before I knew what was happening he had me crushed against a wall. Hand on my neck and eyes ablaze he growled out "Do you know who I am?"

"No" I replied as strong and defiant as I could. I really shouldn't be egging him on, but I have poor impulse control so what do you expect?

"I" he paused took a calming breath "am Syndrome" shit, I thought. He continued "And I am _your boss_" his voice was venomous, it almost physically hurt. What a minute. It did he was kind of chocking me, and that kinda hurts.

But whats worse? I just cursed out my boss. The man that got me taken from the orphanage and has given me a home and job, just yesterday this all happened and I already was screwing up. Things were getting a little fuzzy and I wasn't seeing straight anymore.

"And you" he continued. "should remember that for your own good" he squeezed my neck harder then let me drop to the floor. "do you understand?"

I nodded feebly.

"Good" and with that he turned away and walked off. I struggled to get up, using my mop as leverage. And trying my damnedest I finished the days work and rushed to get back to my room. Once there I didn't even bother to do anything, kept my clothes on and just fell into my bed.

I was exhausted, whether it be because it was a hard days work, or because I was strangled. And one thought crossed my mind before I knocked out. _What the hell did I get myself into?_


	3. Chapter 3

**Well…once again, did not expect this to be up this early. I have just been flying through this story. I even took the time to plan out chapters and everything! Which for some reason makes me excited… Aaaaanywaaay… this chappie is up on the same night as chapter two. Well what else is there to do when you have insomnia and can't sleep, like, ever? – marblememo**

_**Chapter 3**_

_About a month since the mopping incident…_

The alarm clock woke me up again this morning. Like it has every day for this past month or so. I had gotten into a routine and since I was guesstimating that it was…Wednesday it was the day that I cleaned the glass in the 'all access' areas and polished tables. Ever since the first day I had to clean the tables I had loved the one room where one wall was fucking lava. It is pretty cool.

I grabbed my supplies and added in and extra bag of marshmallows and a stick. I did all my work and saved the lava room for last. I dragged a extremely high backed chair over near the wall. I leaned back got all comfortable and proceeded to make roasted marshmallows. I don't know if it's the lava but these are the goddamned best roasted mallows that I have ever had.

About half way through the bag I heard a clicking sound and the lava wall started to split in half. I had never seen this happen before so I freaked a little and accidently pushed myself backwards on the chair. After once again tumbling to the ground I hid behind the over turned chair only peeking out every now and then to see what was happening.

I heard footsteps, then the clicking sound again. I peeked as the door began to close, and saw who was the one that went through the 'magical' lava wall. It was Syndrome. My boss. But, he didn't look to good. He looked hurt. I noticed that that the white shirt he was wearing was slightly stained with blood. His face looked slightly swollen and cut up. I jumped up from my hiding position and cocked my head to the right.

"Are you okay, dude?" I said meekly. He gave me a 'what the hell' look. Probably wondering where I popped up from. He just stared at me, didn't say a word.

"Are you…hurt?" I questioned. He stared. I stared right back at him. He blinked.

"You blinked, I win" I said smugly. Another 'what the hell' look. A couple of cuts he had on his face were still slightly bleeding

"You didn't answer my question, you know. Are you hurt or ain't you hurt?"

"Why?" he questioned suspiciously.

"Cuz, I'm merely curious"

"Curiousity killed the cat"

"Good thing I'm not a cat then" I joked. He chuckled. I actually made him laugh. I was doing a nerdy little happy dance in my mind.

"And no I am not hurt, just a little beaten and bruised" he chuckled again. I almost burst out laughing when he swayed and almost fell over. He was obviously not fine. I rolled my eyes. I walked forward and grabbed him by the arm. Big arm.

"What are you doing?" he slurred.

"Your obviously not fine" I replied. And started toting him towards the living quarters and into my room. I sat him down on the bed.

"Wait here" I ordered.

"Like I have a choice" he said. Sarcasm.

I walked into my bathroom and pulled my little first aid kit from under the sink. It was one of the random pieces of junk I snagged from the orphanage before I left. I was always falling, and always needed to patch myself up. I returned to find Syndrome still sitting on the bed. I pulled up a chair and sat in front of up. The first aid kit was opened up on the bed and set out to work on him.

I was just about to start cleaning the cuts on his face when he stopped my hand by grabbing my wrist.

"Why are you being so nice?" he said in disbelief. "I'm your boss, and I can be a bit of an asshole"

I said and pondered what he just said for a minute "Your right" he gave me a 'you-weren't-supposed-to-agree-with-that' look'. "you can be an asshole a lot but even the worlds biggest dick has a heart.

"Your so foolishly naive if you believe that load of crap" he said.

I shook my head and rested my hand on his cheek. "You'll see, someday you'll be nice enough to me" I said and just continued on cleaning up his face.


	4. Chapter 4

**I am really surprising myself by how fast I'm pumping out these chapters. But hey, I burned my arm and I need to do something to keep myself from poking the blistery thing. And watching Aqua teen hunger force isn't helping me that much. So I'm keeping myself busy. –marblememo**

_**Chapter 4**_

I had gotten bored with the same routine and I decided to go on a little adventure on my day off. I had packed a bag with a little bit of food and set off to climb the volcano all the way to the top and spit into the lava. A little goal of mine that I've had ever since I found out it was still active.

I was about three quarters of the way up when I encountered a little problem. There was a sheer rock wall that I had to pass in order to keep going. What made it worse was that all 5ft 4inches of me couldn't reach a hand hold to help me pass it. I decided to take a chance and see if I could jump and reach it.

I readied myself; I knew I really didn't have more than one chance. Miss and I fall down the side of a volcano, make it and well…I make it. I bent my knees, put all of my power into extending my legs and reaching for the nearest hand hold in attempt to lift myself up and onto the ledge. I caught hold and tried to pull myself up.

I couldn't. I wasn't strong enough to pull myself up. I tried to see if I could get leverage using my feet to try and push me. My feet slipped and I was back to hanging from the ledge by just my hands.

_Oh crap _I thought _please dear god, if you're out there, help me dammit! I really, really don't feel like dying right now. _

_

* * *

_

Far from where Lily was dangling for her life off the side of a volcano, Syndrome was using his time to catch himself up on sleep. He had been keeping himself up nights trying to figure out what was up with that short little black haired janitor. She was nice to him when he was acting like an asshole. He confused him.

But this rare morning where he got to sleep in he was awoken by a very strange sounding alarm. He hadn't heard it often but he knew that this one was the one that meant that someone was passing by the border up near the volcano. Everyone was supposed to know that going up to the mouth was off limits, extremely dangerous, and very stupid.

He groaned and lifted himself up. Whoever the dumbass was that was doing this was being put up for invention testing, and that was not a very nice job to have. He made his way over to the computer that was flashing a yellow screen with a _warning_ on it. He pressed a couple of buttons and brought up the security feed from where the 'trespasser' was.

What he saw made his eyes widen. The janitor that had messed up his sleep was now dangling off of a ledge on the volcano. And she didn't look like she was about to pull herself up anytime soon. He knew that whoever he sent up there to get her wouldn't get there in time. But dammit something inside him was telling him to go save her.

_Dammit, this girl is going to get herself killed. _He thought angrily as he pushed a secret button that opened up the compartment to his rocket boots. _Boots don't fail me now!_

He pulled them on and turned them on and made his way to where she was.

--

My grip was slipping. I knew that I wouldn't' be able to hold on for any longer. My left hand slipped. I almost fell. I could feel my right hand slipping as well. My fingers were slipping. I did the not smartest thing next. I looked down. I was a lot farther than I thought it was before. I gulped.

My hand was slipping, slipping. I lost my grip. My stomach dropped. I tried to scream but was to paralyzed in fear to do so. I was falling, falling. Then I felt something strong and warm. And I wasn't falling anymore. I was actually rising.

I opened my eyes not realizing that I had even closed them. I looked and I saw Syndrome. He…saved me?

He looked down at me.

"Do you know how fucking stupid it is to be climbing that fucking thing? You could have gotten yourself killed! Lucky I was here or you would have probably ended up as-" He yelled before I cut him off.

"You , saved me?" I cocked my head to the side. Confused.

"No fucking Duh!"

"Sarcasm isn't need you know" I said. "But why?" I questioned.

He looked away from me. "I…I don't know." He seemed almost ashamed.

"I knew it" I said smugly.

"What?"

"I knew it" I repeated.

"Knew what?" he seemed thoroughly confused.

"Remember? Way back when. When I told you that one day you would be nice to me" I said. "I knew it, you were nice. You saved me. That was a nice thing to do. Ergo I win."

He simply gaped at me. And gave me another one of those 'what-the-hell' look. He seemed to give me those often.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi. Sorry this took so long. Especially after I got up one a day…for three days. But things have been…a little out of my control. But everything should be cooling down now. Hopefully. **

**-marblememo**

**

* * *

**

Syndrome took five steps. Stopped. Turned and walked five more. Stopped. Turned and walked another five. He glanced over at the clock. _2:35 am. _It was late. Almost too late. And Mirages birthday was tomorrow. _Well technically today._ He was having trouble thinking about what to get her.

"She's a girl right? What do girls like?" he thought out loud.

Five steps. Stop. Turn.

"What am I going to do?"

Five steps. Stop. Turn.

"Gah!" he yelled out and threw his arms up in frustration. He stopped pacing. A little spark of an idea flew through his mind.

_Who else but a girl would know what a girl would want? _His eyes flew wide open. _How could I have missed this! Of course! Of course! Lily! She's a girl! Mirage is a Girl! Lily can help me!!!_

He pulled a smug smirk onto his face and walked out of his room and into the hallway. He made his way to Lily's door. He straitened his shirt and brushed some invisible lint of his shoulder. He lifted his fist and prepared to start knocking on the door.

* * *

**Lily POV**

_*knock, knock*_

I slowly opened my eyes. I heard a noise. I don't like that noise. I sluggishly looked over to the alarm clock on my bedside table and saw the clock. It was almost three am. _Three in the fucking morning!_ I decided whoever was at the door would give up if I didn't answer and leave me to go back to sleep.

_*Knock, Knock, Knock*_

There it goes again. No worries. They'll give up. I snuggled deeper into my blanket and closed my eyes. Doing my best to ignore the feeling inside of me that made me want to stab whoever was at my door in the face.

_*KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK*_

My eyes snapped open. Whoever was out there really wasn't getting the clue. _It's 3 in the fucking morning! Come back tomorrow! And God help me, leave now or fear the wrath of Lily without enough sleep. _

_***KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!!!***_

This time the series of knocks was followed by someone yelling out from behind the door.

"Lily! I know you're in there! Please! I Need your help!" It was Syndrome. _Knew it. Asshole. What the hell. Leave me alone. _

"Please Lily! I really, _really_ need your help! Please Lily! Please?" his voice had started to falter near the end. _Damn. Bastard's guilting me into actually doing this. _

I groaned. And threw myself out of bed and onto the flow. That always woke me up quicker. I picked myself up off the ground and stood up. Rolled my neck, and cracked all the bones I could to try and wake myself. I brushed myself off and made my way towards the door.

I threw the door open to see Syndrome. Arm still raised as if preparing for another series of knocks. I glared at him.

"What?" I growled out.

"Bad time?" he questioned. _No shit Sherlock!_

"Yah think?"

"I Know, I know, but I really really need your help with something really important." He pleaded. Using puppy dog eyes that I had never seen him use. And to be honest it kind of scared me a little. He tried to open the door but I used my foot to block it from opening it all the way. I cocked my head to the side angrily. I narrowed my eyes. Refusing to let him in. He looked slightly hurt.

"Come on. Pleeeeeease?" he said. Drawing out the word please. The puppy dog effect intensified. I was wearing down. Time for stronger defensives.

"Do you _know _what time it is?" I ground out. My teeth clenched. I did not liked to be awakened in the middle of the night. Not by _anyone. _

"Yeah, I know. I'm really sorry about-" he started. I interrupted.

"_Do you __**know **__what time it is?"_

"Yes, its" he paused looked down at the watch on his wrist. "three o'clock in the morning"

"Exactly, which means its early, or late, whichever you prefer. And that means it is time for sleep. Not time for waking people up in the middle of the night for no reason." I practically yelled at him. I tried to close the door in his face but he stopped it with his shoe right before it closed.

"Come one Lily please? I really need your help picking out a birthday gift my Mirage" he said. My eyes flashed angrily.

"You're kidding me." I said in disbelief. He shook his head. "You're shitting me?" he shook his head again. "You've got to be kidding!" I yelled exasperated. I then tried to close the door again.

"Come on Lily! You owe me!" he said losing ground in their little argument.

"What?" I said shocked. "How the _hell _do _I _owe _you_?"

"_Well…" _he started and then looked at me expectantly. He knows something. I searched my thoughts.

"No way" I said defiantly. I then started reciting things out loud. "Let's see, You gave me a home, then I patched you up that one time. Then you saved my life then…" I trailed off. _Damn. He got me. I guess I do owe him. Damn it all! _I groaned loudly.

"Fine. Come in. I'll help you. But I won't be happy about" I said sticking my finger in his face to prove my point. "I'll go put on coffee, sit on the couch and I'll be out in a second." I walked away and into the kitchen and set the coffee maker. _Work quickly technology. Don't try my patience. _I willed it. I walked back into the living area and saw that Syndrome had already made himself at home and had put his feet up on my coffee table. I narrowed my eyes at him. He quickly put his feet down again. _Good boy. _

"So, what were you thinking about getting Malibu Barbie for her birthday?" I asked as I threw myself sideways into an armchair.

"Well I was thinking something along the lines of…"

* * *

And finally Syndrome had chosen what to get her. After a couple of hours of many Google searches and random guessing. She had actually helped him get a gift for his girl. _I'll have to thank her. _He thought. _I did interrupt her sleep. Wait. Am I actually feeling guilty about keeping her awake? Well serves her right she did the same to me. _His little bit of guilt vanished. But something was still bugging him in the pit of his stomach. He just ignored it.

"Hey Lily, I finally got it. Its bought and being shipped here right now. It should be here and ready in six hours." He looked up from the screen of the laptop to see Lily curled up on the end of the couch snoozing peacefully. He gave a small smirk. He walked over and picked her up. _Wow. She's really light. _He thought.

_He walked out of the living area and into her bed room. He laid her out and pulled the blanket around her. He whispered to her a quick good night and kissed her slightly on her forehead. He froze. He made his way out of her living quarters in a rush. He made his way into his room and fell into his bed. In an instant he was dreaming about a crazy black haired janitor and the way she could stand up to him like no other member of his staff would._

* * *

_**The morning (Lily pov) **_

I opened my door and set out for my next day's work. Right on the ground outside my door a little card caught my eye. I bent down to pick it up and saw in cursive writing on the front it said '_thank you' _I opened it up and inside there was one word. _Syndrome. _I found it strange that even the way he writes his name can look arrogant.

I said out loud to myself "Well Syndrome, looks like this whole niceness thing is really catching on with you ain't it?"

* * *

**Well. Watcha think? Review please. Next chapter will hopefully be up soon. And I stress hopefully. **

**-MarbleMemo**


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm Kind of running low on ideas on this story. (I know, already?) This is really just filler until I can plan out something else. And I don't know if I've ever said/written this but I don't own anything except my guitar, and my books. So Read, and be sure to review. **

**-marblememo**

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**Chapter 6**

I didn't know what had awoken me so early that morning but I assured myself it would die a slow and painful death. Whatever it was. The light was streaming through the window and through the door to my little balcony.

Suddenly an idea flashed across my mind. Along with a memory. A memory of my doing amateur acrobatics to climb onto the roof of the orphanage to do a little star gazing. It wasn't dark so I could look at the sky I guess.

I called in "sick" for work. I needed a little break. I dragged myself out of bed and dressed. I grabbed a beat up old paperback book and stuck it into one of the pockets of my jeans. I might even get some reading done while I'm up there.

I stepped out onto the balcony and couldn't help but be momentarily blinded by the sun as it hit me. Gaining the ability of sight again I looked around. Did a little planning in my head and tried to find the way to get up to the roof with the least possibility of injury.

Deciding my route I started out. With a step onto the railing, and making sure I didn't look down, I levered myself up to and overhang. I climbed up onto that and pulled my way up to the roof. I guess I was on the top floor. Huh. I guess someone up there knew my little affinity for heights.

And at last I was on the roof looking out over almost the whole island. Too bad I hadn't been able to get a good look when I was scaling the volcano but I guess time just fell away from me. Good Lily. Make up stupid puns in your head and laugh at them.

---

I was cold. It was dark. Noises were all around me. To the sound of rain falling all around me to the random flashes that I could see through closed eyes followed seconds after by a noise that shook the very building on which I was laying.

I opened my eyes slowly. I guess I had fallen asleep. Strange I don't even remember trying to. The air around me vibrated again. I tried to sit up and look around. But I was stopped. My eyes focused and I could see I was leaning against something, no someone. I looked up.

Syndrome. Again. Why is he saving me so often. He's a villain right?

I guess he had noticed me stirring because he looked down at me.

"Really? Fall asleep on a roof during a horrible rainstorm. You just keep trying to kill yourself don't you?" he said. Sarcastically I might add. Ass. I was feeling crappy he should be nicer, but then again I guess he was carrying to safety. Again.

I was cold. And wet. Really cold. I could feel my body shake violently with chills. I could feel myself getting sick. I was lightheaded. The world spun a bit. I closed my eyes again. I was always almost getting myself killed wasn't I? Syndromes right. Wait what? No. I'm just tired. And sick. Yep. My brain feels fuzzy. I think I'll take a little nap.

---

I was coming to again. I wasn't as cold. But I was still shaking. My brain hurts. Along with everything else. I could feel something cold, no icy, making its way up and down my back. On my skin. Under my clothes.

Oh hell no!

I jumped and tried to scramble away from the weird cold thing. I couldn't feel it anymore. I'm safe, and I curled up into a ball. Sleepy, so sleepy.

---

I was warm again. Nice and warm. I still hurt. Just not as bad.

I tried to sit up but was just pushed back down by to big hands.

"Wha-?" I tried to say. My voice sounded horrible. And I couldn't even finish one word before my body was cursed by a fit of coughing. Ouch. And ewww. I coughed up something gross. I started coughing again. Someone handed me a tissue. Thanks whoever you are. I hacked something up into the tissue and opened my eyes and saw it was some weird colored yellow gunk.

I hid away the dirty tissue and croaked out a thanks. The person who, it seems, handed me the tissue was an old man. Not the creepy kind though. More like the Opa kind. I guessed from his white lab coat and stethoscope that he might be a doctor. Might be, he was a doctor his little name tag thingy said so. Dr. Abassian. Hm…sounded legit. But then I wouldn't know I've seen a doctor about three times. Most of which for broken bones. Clumsy little fucker I was.

"Well it seems you have finally awoken" the doc said. He had that nice old man voice. Kinda like those narrators from the nature shows. The nice sounding ones, not the ones that sounded like douche bags.

I tried to answer but found my voice was lost to me. Only a hoarse scratching sound. Crap. I can't talk now. Perfect. For the first time in my life I physically can't talk. God it feels weird.

"Ah-ah-ah" the doc said. "You mustn't strain yourself, it appears that that little bout of adventure has caused you to get pneumonia. But lucky for you this young man-" he gestured towards Syndrome who I just noticed was sitting slumped in a chair asleep. "was there to help you before something worse happened. He hasn't left that chair since he brought you from the roof three days ago. Now, since you are up I'll just give a quick run through of everything. You will need to take one of these pills every morning, until you run out, this for your cough, and make sure to do the usual, drink fluids, etc." and while he was talking he gestured to some pills and cough medicine. God I hate cough medicine.

"Now since it appears that everything is okay I will just be on my way, oh and I'll be back in a week to check up on you so no strenuous activity for a while" and with that he was off. As soon as I heard the door to my quarters close I looked over to Syndrome, still sleeping in the chair. He was there for three whole days. I was out for three whole days. I frowned. Damn. I must have been really doing bad.

I tried to speak again. With no luck.

I was feeling a little weak but I didn't want to be in bed right now. After three days my ass was getting kinda sore. I stood up and stretched my arms up over my head. I stretched for a good minute and a half before I was satisfied that I had loosened up my muscles enough to feel good enough to walk around.

I looked down and noticed my attire. I was wearing a pair of plaid boxer shorts and a wife beater. That's odd I don't think I have ever owned clothing like this. It could be Syndrome's. I smiled. He gave me his clothes. How nice. Or he maybe could have gotten it from somewhere else. He wouldn't just give me his clothes. Would he? And thank you god I was wearing a bra, pretty sure it's mine so that's a plus.

I started to make my way to my little kitchen trying to make sure to make little noise so I wouldn't disturb Syndrome. If he really had been in that chair for three days he really needed his rest. And I needed something to drink. Something relaxing. Tea would do nice. Even though coffee is better but I didn't need caffeine if I was sick.

I felt a little woozy all of a sudden and the world spun for a second. I tried to keep my balance and stumbled forward. I caught myself before I met the ground and straightened up. Gotta watch out.

I put a kettle on the stove and turned to get a tea packet out of the cupboard. I reached up and cursed myself for putting it up on the top shelf. I had almost got my fingers around it when my body was raked with coughs.

---

Syndrome finally stirred awake in the next room. But not without almost falling flat on his face on the ground. He had been awoken by a whistling sound and had decided to investigate. He made his way through to door way and stood at the mouth of the kitchen. He saw a woman with her back to him reaching up for something in the cupboard. Before he could help it a thought passed through his mind. _She looks nice in my clothes. _

All of a sudden she started to cough. Horribly loud and it sounded painful. She put her hands on her throat and continued coughing. She doubled over. He rushed forward to try and help her. She stopped coughing and was breathing heavily. He held her against him to keep her from falling.

Her breathing slowed. Getting shallow. He looked at her and saw that her eyes had closed. _Must have fallen asleep._ He thought. He picked her up bridal style and returned her to her bed. Hopefully this time she wouldn't leave it until she was better. He yawned audibly and checked his watch.

_It looks like she'll be out for a while. I'll just crash on her couch so I can check on her. Chair is not very comfortable. _

And that is how that day ended. With both of them asleep merely 15 feet apart.


	7. Chapter 7

**Ok so I have a couple of ideas on where this story is headed but I also have another story eating away at the back of my mind. So I'm going to try and finish this one up before I start on something else. But then if I'm going like that I should also probably finish the other story I have on hiatus. Aaaanyway just enjoy this. **

**-marblememo**

**--- **

**Chapter 7 **

It had been one year since I've been here. One whole year. I had recovered from my pneumonia pretty well. Even though Syndrome wouldn't let me out of his sight for like a month. And now I was supposed to be celebrating the year I've been here. Well year and one day. For today is my birthday. I was now 19. And to be honest I was feeling a little down.

Today I was mopping the hallways and doing that gave me the chance to let my mind wander. If this were my birthday back at the orphanage then I would have gotten a cookie and some cheap little toy from the 99 cents bin at the general store. But here, oh no, I got nothing here. And for that reason I was feeling a little bitter. I was already most of the way through my day and nothing. Zilch. Nada. Another way to say nothing in a weird way.

My couple of guard friends haven't even seemed to notice my bad mood either. Even though I had yelled at them for messing up my nice clean floors. After they had walked away mumbling something about pms I hadn't seen them. I wasn't asking for much just a little acknowledgment. I want someone to wish me a happy birthday. Even a crappy cookie would be fine right about now. But no. nope. Uh-uh. Nothing.

My only friend that was one of the few girls on this whole island was Lizabeth. Or Lizzie which is what I called her. actually calling people by their names was too much of a hassle. That's why Lizabeth was Lizzie, Syndrome was Ginger, and Mirage was Malibu Barbie (but never to her face).

I went to visit her once my shift was done. She worked with some the computers. Something about imputing number from one column into another or some shit like that. I didn't like computers much. Ever since that one movie I saw when computers realized that they were better than human I have never been able to look at a keyboard the same way again.

"Hey Lizzie, What is up o' bestest buddy o' mine?" I asked. Sitting on her desk.

"Nothing much, you know SSDD" she smiled. Hell yeah I knew SSDD.

"So when you getting off work o' buddy o' pal?" letting my childish enthusiasm shine through.

"Well" she said while straitening up a couple pieces of paper. "I'm actually almost done here…and…there done." She said while stapling something together. I smiled.

"Really? That's good 'cause I need your help with something." I said. She looked up at me eyebrow raised.

"Oh really? And what would that be?"

"Well, Lizzie, today is my birthday. And I was wondering if we could, I don't know, watch movies and talk about how getting old sucks" we both laughed. "So watcha think 'bout that? Huh? Willing to celebrate my birthday with me?" I asked. Trying out a puppy dog look. She looked at me.

"Sure, I'll drop by at, is eight okay?" she asked. I nodded.

"Okay I'll see you then" she said. I smiled, nodded, then waved goodbye as I walked off to my home to relax a little.

---

**Far off somewhere in the complex. **

Lizabeth Connelly marched herself straight to Syndrome's private office. He sat with his feet up on his desk examining some papers. She snuck up behind him and pulled his rolling chair backward. Causing him to be startled and the papers to fall to the floor.

He glared at her.

"Can I help you?" he grounded out. Anger seeping into his words. She stared innocently.

"Who,me? No. But there is someone you could, and will, help." She told him. She leaned in close to whisper into his ear. "You, my friend, are going to spend a little quality time with a certain black haired janitor. Tonight at 8 o'clock you will make your way to-"

---

**Lily POV **

I glanced at the clock for the tenth time in two minutes. I sighed. 8:15 and no sign of Lizzie. What a perfect birthday this was. I got tired of waiting so I popped a zombie flick into the DVD player. Gots to love them zombies.

I settled myself into the couch to watch. The door knocked. Dammit right when I was getting comfortable.

"It's open!" I yelled out to whoever was on the other side other side of the door. I could hear the door open and saw Syndrome standing in the doorway looking a little nervous.

"Um, Hi" he said. I just looked at him. He scratched the back of his head nervously. "Um, well Liz said she couldn't make it, and she's sorry by the way, and she sent me to make up for it." I smiled a little. He listened to Liz? I wonder why. His eyes nervously darted around the room.

"Since your just gunna stand there can you close the door, your lettin' in a draft." I said. He quickly scrambled to shut it. He's a weird one today.

"You gunna sit down or not?" I asked him. Letting humor mix in with my words.

"Wha? Um, oh yeah. Yes" he sat down on the couch next to me. I covered us up with the blanket and leaned on him.

"So uh, what are we watching?" he asked.

"Hm?" I tore my eyes away from the screen. "Oh, Shaun of the Dead" I smiled. If there was anything that made a movie perfect it would be Zombies.

---

After a couple more movies I had gotten pretty tired. I stretched and yawned. I got up from the couch and noticed Syndrome was still asleep. He had fallen asleep partway through 28 weeks later and hadn't even gotten to see the hilarious eye gouging scene. He looked different when he was asleep. If you looked closely you could almost see the childish innocence on his face. Although it had almost disappeared after all these years of abuse.

Yeah Syndrome had told me about that. When I was sick and bored I asked for him to tell me some stories. Which he did, albeit reluctantly. I pulled the blanket on him. And walked back toward my room and fell into bed. I closed my eyes and dreamt of fighting my way through a zombie apocalypse with a ginger super villain by my side.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8 **

"Please" I asked him. He glared at me.

"I told you, no" he said defiantly. No fair. I will win!

"Coooome ooooon! Pleeeease?" drawing out the words and trying on a puppy dog face.

"NO" he said looking straight into my eyes. He was trying to prove that puppy dog face was useless to him.

"Okay" I said. Feigning defeat. He looked at me with unmasked surprise.

"Okay?" he questioned. I nodded.

"Okay, I understand" and much quieter I said "have no soul see if I care."

"What?" eyebrow raised.

"What?" in mocking innocence. His eyes narrowed. I shrugged and slowly started to walk away. I was not even five feet away from my previous position when I quickly jumped back in front of him and threw myself to my knees. I clasped my fists together.

"Please. Please. Please? Pretty please with sugar on top! I'll be your very best friend! Please!" I pleaded. I was on my knees. My knees dammit! He jumped slightly.

"Your acting like a child!" he said with exasperation. I continued on with my little display. I didn't care I really _really _wanted this. I stopped for a moment only to plaster a kicked puppy look on.

"Fine" he whispered. Inner gloating.

"What? Excuse me? I didn't hear that." I said. Don't push it.

"I said, Fine. The island can celebrate Christmas." he repeated. Score! I jumped up excitedly. I fist pumped.

"Yes! Knew it. Which means I need you to get me to the mainland so I can get stuff." I smiled sweetly.

"Plane leaves in 30 minutes. Miss it I'm not getting you another one. Now hurry up before I change my mind." He said. I practically squealed. I rushed forward hugged him and then ran off to get myself ready.

---

The plane ride was uneventful, well except for the fact that we hit a patch of turbulence, which was incredibly fun. I stood at the entrance to a book store that I had always passed by but never went into. Books were never really my thing. Except for this one I got years ago. I still kept it with me wherever I went. I never knew exactly where it came from. Just that it was always with me. I read it so many times that I practically knew it word for word.

A long, long time ago me and a friend of mine were trying one of our 'get-rich-quick' ideas. She had wanted to sell my book. But I couldn't. Even though we checked and it would have come in for a hefty penny. But I couldn't part with it. A first edition copy of 'Where the Red Fern Grows'. I liked to think that it was given to me by my parents before something horribly tragic happened. That it was something that held romantic meaning. It wasn't likely, but, I could dream right?

I had seen Syndrome reading every now and then. But most of those books seemed to be about mechanical stuff, or about the outlawing of the supers. The kinda stuff that would put me to sleep just by attempting to read a page. I tried to once. Got akward trying to explain why I had fallen asleep in Syndrome's 'private' office. Especially since it was Mirage who found me.

I looked through every aisle. Checking almost every title and examining things closely. And suddenly I saw it. It was perfect! Amazing. I felt like a total genius. I grabbed it and rushed to go pay. I hoped he would like it. And I now I was off to get a little something for everyone else.

---

A couple hours later I was finished. I glanced at my wrist. Again, no watch. I rolled my eyes at myself. When the hell would I learn? I glanced around the shopping mall at the food court and spied a clock. I still had some time until I had to be back at the airport. I wondered what I could go and do to waste time. Then I knew. I would go back and visit Jasper at the orphanage.

I wonder if he had gotten adopted yet. He's a little kid. Families usually always wanted the little kids. I blinked a tear back. I wouldn't think about that now. Now, I must go see how the little guy is doing. I walk outside and flagged down a taxi.

The taxi pulled up to the front of the orphanage. It hadn't changed. I could see some kids playing around in the front yard. The dust rising around whenever they ran through. The cab driver up front coughed. Getting my attention. I guess I had spaced a little. Not something I do very often so I was surprised. I gave him the money gathered my stuff together. I stood on the other side of the gate just looking at the building I had, for the most part, grown up in.

A little kid around the age of 11 ran up to me and hugged me around my middle. I dropped my bags right outside the front door and picked her up. Well tried, she wasn't as small as she used to be.

"Hey sweetie. That school must be doing really good for you if you could tell it was me after all this time." I looked into her clouded eyes. Blind. Her parents hadn't wanted her after when they found out she was 'damaged'. She didn't know it. She was dropped off here when she was too young to remember. Her name was Rosemary.

"How yah been?" I asked her. She giggled the way only a young kid could.

"I'm good Lily. The dragon's been nice lately. Oh! And I even have a family that comes to visit me. Wanna meet 'em?" she asked.

"Sure, sweetheart" I placed her on the ground. She took my hand and escorted me to a family that were lounging in the 'show room' looking over some papers. I saw a mom, a dad, and even and older brother. All situated facing the Grey Dragon. Looks like they were adopting her. Lucky little kid. Rosemary walked over to the lady. She placed a hand on her knee.

"Ms. Callaghan? This is my friend Lily. She was an orphan just like me. Until a not very nice lady took her away. I haven't seen her in forever!" she told the lady. The lady smiled a sweet smile. She stood and held her hand out. I shook it.

"Well hell Lily. It's very nice to meet you. Little Rosie here had told us a lot about you. It appears you two were very close. And I want you to know, that if you every want some place to stay, or just come by to visit we would be happy to take you in." she said. She's so sweet. I was tempted to take her up on her offer right then and there. But I remembered the reason that I was on the mainland in the first place.

"Why thank you very much, but I can't right now. But if I could get your number I'll be sure to come and visit Rosemary next time I'm in town. And mailing address, so we can keep in touch. This little kid's like a sister to me." I said while gesturing towards Rosemary. She giggled. The mother scribbled something down on a piece of paper and handed it to me. I placed it in my pocket and smiled.

"Now I'll leave you all to finish what you were doing. ? I hope you won't if I do a little visiting before I go, do you?" I asked. She shook her head.

"Of course not Dah-ling take your time" she said, using that sickly sweet sounding voice that had scared me so much doing childhood.

"Oh and before I go, after you're finished here of course could I talk to you for a minute. It won't take long." I said. She nodded.

"Of course dear. Now run along." She said.

"Now Rosie, be good okay? And I'll make sure to come visit you next time I can. And we'll keep in touch, okay? Do good in school and remember what I always told you." She nodded.

"Mh-hmm, never go to bed mad, stay up and fight." She said. Placing her hands on her hips.

"That's right." I said. I ruffled up her hair a little bit and gave her a quick hug before exiting the room. Once in the hallway I took the family way to the younger kids room. Lets see, Jasper was about two months old when I left, I've been gone about a year or so. So he should be with the one year olds. I made my way there and spotted him as soon as I set foot in the door. I picked him up.

"Hey little guy. Still here I see" he blinked. Then smiled and laughed. He remembered me!

"I love you little guy. And I swear. As soon as I can I will adopt you. I mean if you already aren't with a happy family and all." I smiled. And held him close. I don't know what it was about this kid. But he drove me crazy. I heard someone clear their throat from behind me. I turned swiftly only to see it was in all her short and gray haired glory.

"You really like this one don't you." She said. Making it a statement rather than a question. I nodded. I did. I really did.

"Now I know you're not here just to make a social call, is there anything I can help you with?" she always knew me so well. And she had her sweet side. I guess it had decided to make an appearance now.

"Yes, actually I was wondering. You know since I'm legal and everything…" I paused trying to find the right words. I set Jasper back down. "… if you could tell me where or who my parents are." the words rushing out. I gave a sigh. I had always wanted to know, but whenever I asked had told me that my parents had signed a waver saying that I wasn't allowed to look for them. I thought maybe something had changed. Maybe she could tell me now.

"Dearie, you know I can't" she said. I visibly deflated. I could tell she wanted to. But I guess it's the law or something.

"But" she started. My eyes brightened. A new hope sparked. "I have this little piece of paper in my pocket that has been weighing me down all day. So you be good and throw it away for me?" she held out the paper she was talking about. My face screwed up. I just looked down in confusion at her outstretched hand. _Why the hell-? Oh wait._ Then it dawned on me. I mentally slapped myself. _Dumbass. _I quickly shot my hand out to get the paper. As if before my very eyes it could disappear. I stared down at the paper in my hands. I let the name soak in. _Doyle Fortunson._ The paper said.

_Doyle Fortunson. _Is he…could he be? My father. After all these years. _Doyle Fortunson. _

I looked up to see smiling sweetly.

"Now, run along. I have a feeling someone back home is missing you." She said. _Home? Oh yeah, the island. But wait, missing me?_

"Go" reminded me. Of course. I looked over at the clock above the door. _Crap. I'm so gunna be late!_

"Thank you. Really, really. Thank you!" I said as I ran out the door through the house and picked my bags up outside the door and ran to catch a taxi.

---

It was Christmas afternoon. I felt a little giddy. Lizabeth, some guards, and I had already exchanged our gifts earlier. And now I was off to give mine to the boss man. I grabbed a sweater and pulled it on. Grabbed the crudely wrapped present and stepped outside. Outside on the ground was a small wrapped box. I looked down at it curiously. _Odd. Only one person I know communicates with me by leaving things outside my door. _

I looked around and saw that the hallway was empty. I plopped myself down on the ground, sitting criss-cross-applesauce. Just like how I learned in kindergarten. I picked up the present and examined it closely. I opened it carefully. Making sure that the paper didn't tear. Was it was unwrapped I was shocked at what I saw. It appeared to be small piece of technology. I had seen kids at school with things similar. The called them I-pods, or Zunes. I always secretly wanted one, but apparently orphans never really get nice things like that.

There was a note. _So cleaning won't always be so quite. Already full of music. –S. _It said. I remembered how once I brought up how boring it can be cleaning up after people all the time. I guess he it took it to heart. I placed an ear phone that I had just found into my ear and pressed the little sideways triangle button. My ear was almost instantaneously with the sound of drums, guitars, and a voice speaking of the ups and downs of life. I smiled. Wow. Jerks can really do some nice things.

I got up from my seat on the floor grabbed what I had gotten for the Ginger. _He bought me something incredibly expensive and all I got him was some book. _I rolled my eyes. And I walked on. I found him sitting in his 'private' office. Private in quotes because it wasn't really private since I hung out there all the time. He was sitting in his chair reading something. Ha, he so does read!

"Ahem" I coughed, alerting him to my presence. I stood up straight and tall. Even though I was barely as tall as Ginger while he was sitting. _Stupid tall basterd._

"I wanna say thanks, you know for the present. And that, you didn't have to get me something so expensive, let alone anything at all" I said. He just glanced at me from behind his papers.

"Well, I expect that since you are an orphan you have never had a good Christmas, you deserve at least one good thing in your life." He said. My eye twitched at the insult. But I decided to let it slide since it was Christmas.

"Well, thank you then. And, Uh Merry Christmas, I guess." I said. I practically threw the package at him and rushed off. _Jesus, freaking jerk. _

---

Once Lily had practically ran away from the Office the man, now known as The Ginger, looked down at the wrapped present with distaste. He had never really liked Christmas. _Well why should I? Christmas is yet just another thing from childhood that was ruined. Christmas was just another think the adults had celebrated to give themselves that warm and fuzzy feeling about being 'good' for one day a year. What was the point? _

He put the papers down and decided to just get it over with. He opened the present carelessly. Balling up the paper and throwing it over his shoulder. He saw it was a book. Splashed across the cover was yellow and blue with words declaring that this book was '_How to take over the world : for Dummies, a complete guide of world domination for idiots! _He laughed out loud and cracked open the book. _Who knows I might even learn something. Maybe Christmas isn't so horrible. Yeah. And maybe I will one day decide to give up evil and decide to start a family, with a wife, a house, and those 2.5 kids. _

He leaned back in his chair and took a sip of some strong flavored alcoholic drink. _Yeah. And then maybe I'll grow wings! _

---

**Well finals are over this is my little gift to you readers. Might I add this readers that don't review. *cough**cough*. Aaaanyway. Now Lily has found out the name of her father. But will he be all that she hoped? Find out next time on(dun-dun-duh!) the Janitor!...well not really next time but you'll find out eventually! **


	9. Chapter 9

**Hola! Enjoy this chapter! And a extra special thanks to ConColor44, you my friend have been the best reviewer I have ever had. Thank you so much, your reviews alone are enough to make me want to continue this story. It makes me happy thinking that just one person like this story. And to anyone else reading Review! Please? **

**---**

**Chapter 9 **

I was walking down the corridor in Syndrome's liar with my mop and bucket on wheels by my side. Stop, mop, go on, stop, mop, go. This pattern drove me insane. But I was already over half way done, and thank god that the guards have done a good job of not tracking so much volcanic ash into the hallway, since our little 'talk' that is. But since then they've been doing a better job. Geesh, I was starting to sound a little bit like .

This job can get awfully quiet so I was very glad at those times that I have my mp3 to listen to, thanks to the Ginger that is. Apparently I was the only person he was ever nice to, and the only one he had ever given anything to as a gift. Besides Mirage of course. But they were supposed to be in love or something.

The song I was listening to ended and was then replaced by 'Roxanne' the one from that musical, the one that made it sound like you needed to dance to it. So I did. I used my mop as a fake dance partner and danced up and down the hallway. The song came to an end but I decided that it wouldn't hurt if I listened to it again. I pulled out my mp3 and pressed the little pause button. Just when I was about to press the two little triangle buttons I sensed a disturbance coming from behind the door I was standing next to.

I pulled one of my ear buds out and looked curiously at the door. The door shook slightly and I narrowed my eyes at it. I took a step closer leaving my mop and bucket behind. The door that the noises were coming from had a big S on it, I noticed. But then that means this was the door to Syndromes private room. The only people allowed in it were Syndrome, and Mirage. But that was only when they were 'intimate' and to me it didn't seem like they were being intimate, more like violent. Unless what I knew about intimacy was different from what they thought.

I put my ear up to the door but didn't have much luck hearing what was going on. I flinched my head away when I felt the door shake as if something had been thrown against it. I put my ear back against the door just in time to hear a couple of words ring out of the incessant mumbling. "Get out, you heartless…"

Right after that was sound of angry stomping footsteps. I quickly jumped away from the door, stuffed my other ear bud in and continued mopping as if I wasn't just eavesdropping. My music still hadn't been turned on so I was still able to hear if anything was said. Just when I had busied myself with looking busy I heard the door being slammed open behind me and angry high-heeled footsteps coming closer. Must be Mirage. She passed by my field of vision.

She walked right in to the section of the hallway that was still wet. I was about to yell out and warn her but I was too late. _Déjà vu? _It seemed as if her legs just slid out from under her and she landed flat on her gray pencil skirt cover butt onto the floor. I tried as best as I could to restrain myself from letting out a laugh. I did. For the most part. I let out a strangled sound that went kind like 'ka-mh-hm'.

And as soon as that sound reached my ears I knew I shouldn't have made a noise at all, because now Mirage was looking at me with a look on her face that seemed to say 'I hate you… and one of these days someone will discover your body in the river and I will be there to laugh.' She quickly got right back up, dusted herself off and adjusted her skirt/suit thingy. And she did all this with that glare still in place. She walked right up to me. And she stared straight into my eyes. Deep, deep, down I felt as if my inner child had just been kicked in the shins.

"Why don't you put up a goddamn wet floor sign you good for nothing maid!" she practically screamed at me. My eyes widened. _Ouch. _I hadn't even done anything to her and she was here extremely pissed at me. That argument, at least I think it was an argument, between her and Ginger must have been really intense if it ended badly enough for her to be so pissed off.

She turned quickly and stalked off. I watched her go. As soon as she had turned the corner I abandoned my mop and bucket in the hallway and stuffed my mp3 into my pants pocket and walked towards Ginger's door cautiously. The door was still hanging open since Mirage hadn't bothered to slam it shut, just to slam it open hard enough to make a mark in the wall with the doorknob.

I stopped just before the opening of the door and peeked my head around the corner to take a look around. I was shocked at what I saw. I took a step through the door and had to maneuver myself around what appeared to be an alarm clock. Maybe that's what hit the door when I was listening in. I took another step and boy, the place looked a lot different from the last time I snuck in here to annoy the Ginger.

Everything in the room that was made of glass seemed shattered. And everything seemed to be in a state of general disorder. The bed that was probably usually made was messed up, pillows were split open and feathers covered everything with a thin layer. Then I saw _him._ He looked horrible. Broken. I walked up until I stood right in front of where he sat at the edge of the bed.

His head was resting on a clenched fist, the knuckles white. His eyes stared off into nothing, looking vacant. He looked all scratched up. His face was slightly bleeding. But that not the part I was most concerned about. His white dress shirt was stained red with, what I assumed was blood. It was mostly staining his side. My eyes opened wide as I took this all in. _Double déjà vu?_

"Holy crap! Ginger?! What the hell happened here?" I yelled. He only slowly raised his eyes to look at me and then he settled them back to where he was staring. I rushed and grabbed him by his wrist and pulled him up. His face remained blank.

"Where is your 1st aid kit? I need to fix you up! This looks serious." Again his face remained the same. This was really frustrating me. I didn't have time for this! He was probably seriously hurt! I needed for him to be alright.

"Gah! Come on with me, I'll make you all better" I gripped his wrist a little tighter and pulled him closely behind me as I rushed us into the hallway and to my door. I looked behind me to him. He still had that blank look on his face. He was like a zombie, a shell of his former self. The non-zombie Ginger would have snatched his arm away by now and told me that he was fin then walk off. But then he would call me back minutes later saying he needed a little help. But I guess not this time, this time he did nothing. Said nothing.

We came to my door; thank god it was only a couple doors down and across the hall! I realized that on our little journey across the hall my hand had slipped down from his wrist and was not I his hand. His hand which now full encased mine. I gave a small blush at that then punched in the access code to my room. It gave a little ding signaling that I could go in and I pushed through the door and into my room.

I practically sprinted through the room and into the bathroom with Ginger still lagging behind me. I pushed him down so that he sat down on the toilet lid. _What the hell happened back there? _Even with him sitting and me standing, I was only taller than him by maybe an inch and a half. He was a very tall man. Taller than me by a little more than a foot, while standing, even without the hair. The ridiculous 'flock o seagulls' hair.

I turned my back to him as I searched the little area under the sink for my little box of nursing supplies. I turned back around and there was no change in Ginger's behavior. I emptied a little bit of rubbing alclohal onto a cotton ball and was prepared to clean off the cuts on his face.

"Okay, this is probably going to sting a little" I said and went on to clean his cuts. His jaw clenched under my hand. I looked up into his eyes, they had narrowed slightly and I could tell he was trying to stop himself from making it seem like he was in any pain.

"Now, there's the Ginger we've all come to know and love. For a second there I thought you had gone forever." He raised his eyebrow at me in curious, kinda what the hell are you talking about look that he so often gave me. I gave him a wide smile and continued on. I placed band aids where they were needed and then took a deep breath, next I would need to have him take off his…uh, shirt so I could take a look at what was wrong there. I bit my lip and could feel my face get hot, at just the thought of seeing him shirtless.

Now I have to admit that I might, and I stress _might, _ have developed a little, teensy weensy barely even real school girl crush on my evil boss man. But I was a grown woman dammit! I'm allowed to feel that way right? But he _is _my boss. That alone isn't…uh…what's that one word I learned forever ago?....oh! Unethical. And he has Mirage. And that's…well kinda hoar-ish. And I vowed to never by the other woman. So either way, it just wasn't right!

I was brought out of my inner tirade by a small cough. I looked over to see Ginger looking at me expectantly. I gulped. What if he knew what I was thinking? That would really freak me out. _Bring up 'Where the Red Fern Grows' in a sentence if you can read my thoughts._ I stared at him. He stared back. _Huh. Guess not._ He gave me a look that told me 'well?'

"Um, I'm gunna need you to…uh…take off your, um…_shirt" _I whispered the last word. Hoping maybe he wouldn't hear me. but I guess he did because on his face was a small little smirk. He was enjoying how worked up I was getting over this. He stood slowly and started to unbutton his bloodstained shirt. Barely a couple buttons were undone when he hissed in pain. I did not like to see him hurt.

"Stop, you're hurt, let me" His arms dropped to his side. And I could feel my face get that much hotter. I took a step closer to him and ended up closing the gap that had gotten between us. I then continued to do the drop he had just abandoned. I couldn't help but gape at him shirtless. After what felt like a long time I looked up at his face, and there I saw spread upon his face was that oh so common knowing egotistical smirk.

Yep, Ginger was definitely back, drunk, but back. I lowered my eyes to focus on where it was the blood was coming from. I slowly and silently slipped the shirt from his massive shoulders and placed it on the counter near the sink. Now that I was finally able to get a good look at his side, all color and heat quickly drained from my face. iit was bloody, and still slightly bleeding. And right in the middle of the bloody chaos jutted out a fairly large piece of glass.

"Uh, Ginger? Maybe I should call the doctor, I don't think I can deal with this all on my own" I said and looked up at his face, with a worried look spread across my own.

"_No_" he growled. "You need to do this. No Doctor." My eyes widened, _why was he making me work on him? I'm not a doctor! And this might actually be serious!_

"But this is pretty bad, I mean your gunna need some pretty strong pain killers, because this one is a lot worse then what was done to your face" I said, trying to reason with him.

"I don't care, you're the one who needs to do this"

"okay, I'll try. But I need to give you something to take the edge off" I said. He shouldn't have to feel unnecessary pain.

"Then get it" he said lips barely moving. I could tell he was getting a little impatient with me for defieing him.

"Stay here. I'll be right back" I turned away from him and walked out of the bathroom and into my room. I leaned down and reached under my bed until I felt my fingers touch the box that I was searching for. I grabbed it and pulled it towards me. I held the box close to me and rushed back into the bath room. I set it on the counter moving away Ginger's shirt.

Inside of the box was a couple of things. My book _Where the Red Fern Grows_, the two slips of paper I received the last time I was on the mainland, and a bottle of very cheap, yet very strong vodka and a little shot glass to go with it. I filled the shot glass to the brim and held it out to Ginger. He looked at me, at my hand, then back to me.

"You know that this is a dry island right? As in no Alcoholic beverages of _any _kind" he said wording his sentence as if he was talking to a child.

"Of I know that, why do you think it's hidden?" I said stating the obvious. "Do you want it or not? 'cuz if you don't I could just continue on without any-" he quickly reached out his hand and snathed the little glass away. He brought it up to his nose and gave it a sniff. He then opened his mouth and downed it with one gulp. He then reached out for the still open bottle on the counter. He then proceded to turn the bottle upside down and downed it until there was just a little less than half of what was originally in the bottle left.

I sighed, great, I thought now I'm probably going to have to deal with a drunken Ginger along with a hurt one. I grabbed a pair of tweezers from my kit and positioned myself so that I had easy acsess to the wound and to the rest of my supplies.

"Okay, on 3. 1…2…3" I paused. "4" I pulled the piece of glass out Ginger Flinched, and as soon as the glass was free the blood started flowing. I grabbed a towel ad quickly used it to apply pressure on the wound hoping that it stopped quickly.

"Ow! What the hell!" Ginger yelled. "You said on three and you went on 4, you never said anything about 4" he said. Slurring his words every now and then. I shook my head and ignored him

"Hold this right there" I told him, gesturing to the towel that was still in place. "Keep pressure on it." A couple minutes later, after I was sure that the bleeding had stopped, I grabbed another towel and ran it under hot water from the sink.

"Okay you can let go now" I said. I grabbed the bloody towel and let it soak in the sink. I used the other towel to wipe off the blood and clean the wound. It looked a lot better now that I had stopped the bleeding. I grabbed a gauze pad and placed it over the injured area. I started to wrap the gauze strips around his torso to keep the pad in place. I tightened it to keep it secure. He was all bandaged up and it felt late. I looked up at him. He was still standing so I had quite a ways to look up.

"All better now" I said and gave him small smile. He looked down at me, his eyes half open and little red. Before I knew what happened he had pulled me into a very tight hug. My face had collided with im and I was now standing cheek to chest with Ginger. Cheek to _shirtless_ chest. _No!_ I mentally screamed, _calm down! He's with Mirage, you need to stop thinking about him like that. _

"Thank you" he whispered in my ear. Which sent shivers all the way up and downmy spine. Ginger himself certainly wasn't helping either. He let me go and I took a clumsy step backwards. I looked up and saw a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"You know what Lily? My side still hurts, I think you need to kiss it better" he said. Pouring as much childish innocence into his voice. My eyes widened.

"Wha? No way am I going to-" I argued. _He could not be serious._

"Please Lily, I'm asking nicely" he whined. Great. There was no way to get his mind off this since once he set his mind to something he got it, most of the time.

"Fine. But you better not be up to something" I said sternly, acting as if I was speaking to a child.

"Cross my heart" he looked so sincere, I decided to trust him on this one. I leaned over and gave his side a small peck. I was about to walk away when I felt his large hand on my shoulder.

"Ah-Ah-Ah, what about my face? It got hurt to, you should kiss those cuts better too" he said. I rolled my eyes, sighed and stood on my tip toes to reach each one of those too. But when I was about to give the last little cut on his cheek a peck he turned his head so instead I caught him in the lips. My eyes widened in shock. I knew he was up to something. but right now I was enjoying it.

Butterflies had started to cause a mess in my stomach. _This isn't right! _My mind screamed. _This isn't supposed to happen! _

---

**Well hi there. This was originally on big chapter but well it's about six pages long and not done yet. So I decided to end here and continue this chapter next time. How do you like it? Oh! And wish me luck because I just got my application to go to one of those smart kids schools and I still need to get my letter of recommendation and send the app in by Wednesday! I'm excited! I havnt ever gone to a school like that before! **


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Butterflies had started to cause a mess in my stomach. _This isn't right! _My mind screamed. _This isn't supposed to happen!_

I felt his hands slip down my back and get lower until I felt one of his hands slip into the back pocket of my jeans. My previously closed eyes now snapped open, I gasped into his mouth. Big mistake he used this moment to slip his tongue into my mouth. I tried pushing away but he was too strong and not in the right frame of mind. But I was enjoying it too much to try hard enough.

Sensing the end to my resistance he picked me up and I wrapped my legs around his torso, snaked my arm around his neck, pulling myself closer. I hadn't even realized that he was moving us until I felt him drop me down onto my bed, followed soon after by him. He was supporting himself on his hands and knees to keep from crushing me.

It was then I realized how large he actually was. How much he dwarfed me in comparison. He was nearly a foot taller than me and he was almost three times my width. His lips left mine and he made a trail of butterfly kisses along my cheek bone then down my neck, pausing slightly so suck on the little bit of skin between me neck and collar bone. Causing me to shiver.

"Syndrome?" I croaked out.

"Mm?" he said not even breaking stride. "By the way Lil, don't call me Syndrome. Please call me Buddy. Buddy Pine." as if to prove a point he punctuated each sentence with another kiss.

"Fine then, Buddy, Buddy Pine?" I said meekly.

"What" he spat.

"Buddy, we need to stop, this isn't right. Your with Mirage, I don't want to be responsible for any problems you guys may have" before I was even finished speaking, in face right when I said Mirage's name he had immediately jumped up and away from me. So I guess Mirage was the magic word. I sat up slowly, I was a little light headed, my lips felt bruised, and the straps of the tank top I was wearing had slipped off my shoulder.

I fixed my shirt and looked up to see Syndrome, I mean Buddy pacing back and forth in front of me mumbling something incoherently and stumbling every now and then to remind me that he was plastered. He saw me watching him and stopped his pacing.

"That woman, Mirage" he said saying her name like it was a bad taste in his mouth. "Is a bitch, a horrible good for nothing sorry excuse for a…for a…" his eyes searched rapidly across the room to fill in the blank he needed. "…a whatever the hell she is, that woman was just using me, using my plans just so she could get close to Mr. Incredible, and now that we got him she feels the need to tell me all this on our 3 year anniversary!"

He stopped took a couple of calming breaths that didn't really seem to help his mood and continued on. "And I should have know this would've happened when al she ever asked about was _him_" he paused and started to mimic Mirage's voice, poorly I might add. "Have you found him yet? Are we any closer to him?" he collapsed on the bed next to me.

"And as it turns out we lost him. And now she's done with me!" he stopped again and took a couple more breaths, but these were shaky as if he was holding something back. "And not only did she end thing on out anniversary but she did so right before I was going to give her this" he fished something out of the pocket on his black dress pants and tossed it over in my direction. What landed in my hand was a small black velvet covered box. I opened it up and what I saw inside nearly broke my heart. Inside was a diamond ring.

"Is this a…" I started, but trailed off.

"Yep, an engagement ring"

"And you were gunna"

"Yes, I was gunna"

"But before you could ask her she…"

"Yes haven't we already gone over this?" he said annoyed.

"That sounds horrible, I'm so sorry" I said.

"Oh, don't be sorry yet, I haven't gotten to the worst part. The thing is I'm going to have to deal with this, every time I see her working" I was puzzled.

"Then why don't you just fire her?" I asked, trying to make sense of the situation.

"Because that damn witch says that if I fire her she is going straight to the NSA with all of my information, my research, and my revenge plan, then they're going to lock me up in some god for saken prison. And I can't even kill her either! Because she has someone she is in contact with on the mainland and if she is not able to check in with this person at least once a week then that person's going to send the stuff to the NSA for her!"

"Can I be sorry now?"

"Yes"

"I'm sooo sorry"

"I don't need your pity. And there is something else that's been upsetting me too!" he yelled out. _Damn this guy has a lot of problems. _I thought. I looked at him expectantly.

"The thing is…"He started, but trailed off. Paused, looked around, as if trying to search for what to say. His eyes settled on me. They lingered there before he threw himself on the bed next to me and covered his eyes with an arm.

"Well?" I said. "What's the thing?"

"The thing is…It's…" he stopped again, uncovered his eyes and looked at me again. "The thing is I don't even care that she doesn't love me! Because…Because there's this girl. But I'm not supposed to like this girl, so I tried to not like this girl. I tried being with Mirage more, I even wanted to ask her to marry me! But she doesn't want me. And this girl, God this girl! I'm crazy about this girl. And this girl's a little crazy. And the thing is…this girl…this girl…" he stopped again and stared at me. He whispered something.

"Huh?" I asked. This was very suspenseful.

"This girl is you!" he yelled out. My eyes widened. _No, no friggin way._ I tried to make sense of what he just said.

"No, you don't know what you're saying. You're drunk; you don't mean any of that." I said trying to reason with him. He looked at me all wound up.

"Well, you know what they say 'drunken words are sober thoughts'. These are my drunken words. That when sober are my thoughts." He said, sounding a bit like a child trying to convince a mother that he meant it when he said sorry.

"_But," _he started. _Here we go._ "This isn't supposed to be how it is! I'm a villain! I'm not supposed to be hung up over some girl! Let alone some simple orphan!" I bit my lip, and held myself back from smacking him. _Let him finish, then hit him._ I reasoned with myself.

He continued. "I'm a villain, we're evil, we're assholes who tie women to train tracks, villains aren't supposed to feel, villains aren't supposed to feel, villains aren't supposed to get hung up over girls!" he yelled that last part and then put his arm over his eyes and tried to take deep breaths again. A light bulb turned on inside my head.

"Well that's it!" I said. He uncovered his face and gave me that 'what-the-hell look'.

"Well, right now you're not a villain!" I yelled out spazily.

"I knew you were crazy." He said and groaned. I scrunched up my face. Shook my head and the look disappeared.

"Ugh! You don't get it!"

"Well than enlighten me!" he said sitting up, elbows on his knees, holding his head under his chin.

"Well right now, what are you?" I paused, didn't even give him the time to answer and continued on. "You're just a sorry excuse for a man wallowing in self pity over a girl"

"I don't see how insulting me solves my problems." I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, on the contrary, where in that sentence did I use the word villain to describe you? Not once. Right now you're a normal guy, feeling normal emotions doing normal things. You're not taking candy from children, not blowing up orphanages, your not even robbing banks right now. the key is right now! Just like heroes aren't heroes all the time so villains can't be villains all the time!" I said. It all made sense to me. although it didn't appear to make sense to Ginger.

"So right now I'm not a villain, I'm just a guy?"

"Yes! Now you're starting to get it!" I lay down on my back next to him getting comfortable. "When you put on that uniform you become Syndrome! Bad to the bone, fears nothing, and a constant need to take over the world, but off comes the uniform and you transform into Buddy Pine, hopeless romantic and a cocky sonuvabitch"

"What did I ever do to deserve you?" he said sounding hopeless. I couldn't tell if it was the liquid courage talking or if it was a sober Ginger shining through so I played along.

"I don't know but it must have been in-friggin-credible to earn someone as awesome as me" I said letting a cocky grin to match his own spread across my face.

"Yeah, something incredible" he echoed seeming distracted.

---

**I know, how anti-climatic huh? Eh, whatever. Review. **

**p.s. i just realized, double digits! **


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

I had woken up that morning, with company. Apparently after Ginger spilled his heart out about Mirage we had both fallen asleep. In my bed. All night. But it was morning now; he would wake up sober, and hungover. I had gotten up, quickly and quietly as not to disturb the sleeping villain. Although he doesn't seem that much like a villain. Well not since my little rant last night. I was in my kitchen now, making some coffee, for me and the drunk.

I had heard Ginger get up a couple minutes ago, he made his was towards the bathroom. Most likely to try and relieve his hangover a little bit. I bet you he would smell the coffee soon and come running. From what I've seen of him he likes coffee. Especially when he's working over those big blue pieces of paper that have a bunch of diagrams and numbers that I never cared to try and make sense of. And speak of the devil. Who is that I hear walking through the doorway of the kitchen? Why the evil genius himself. His eyes looked bloodshot and he didn't look very happy to be alive at that moment.

"Well, look who's finally up."I said cheerfully. Knowing all too well how much Ginger must hate me for being so happy. I saw that he was holding a small slip of paper. A piece of paper I recognized. My eyes widened. Please no. Please don't ask me about that.

"Lil?" he asked. Crap.

"Hmm?" I said, taking a sip of coffee trying to act calm.

"Who's Doy-el Fort-un-son?" he said pronouncing every syllable with great distaste. Quick! Think of something!

"Um…he's supposed to either be my dad, or someone who can help me find out who my family was" I said. No! Why did I say that? No, no, no. He raised an eyebrow at me. It screamed 'really?'

"Oh, okay. Um…do you need any help trying to find him?" he asked. No!

"Sure." No! Stupid mouth! Can't you freaking listen to what I'm trying to tell you to say?

"Okay. So… can I have some coffee?" he asked awkwardly.

"Go ahead." I said. Staring into my cup lost in the dark brown liquid. I moved aside and walked towards my couch in the other room. I sat in the middle, folding my legs under me. I felt Buddy drop down next to me. I looked up at him from under some of the hair that had fallen into my face.

"Lil?" he asked.

"Yeah, Ginger?"

"Thanks" he said. I smiled and took and mouthful of coffee and swallowed.

"No problem, Ginger" I said into my half-full coffee cup.

----

**Ugh! Well that was a little harder than it should have been. This is really a bit of filler since I feel I've been away for a little while. But hey, I was grounded. Friggin cops. Hate cops, man. I really do. But good news! I don't know I if I mentioned it but I got in to smart kids school. *does nerdy wannabe disco move*. Which I find incredibly strange since I am late to and ditch my classes a little too often. But hey! I'm not gunna question it! **

**-MarbleMemo**


	12. Chapter 12

**Ugh, I feel like crap. And I have nothing that's physically wrong with me! Apparently you can get sick from stress. Who knew?**

**Chapter 12**

"Hey Lily, what are you doing down here in limbo?" Lizabeth asked, not taking her eyes from the computer screen in front of her. Her hands were flying across the keyboard so fast that it made my head hurt just watching.

"Oh, nothing. Just wanted to say good bye. I'm going on a little adventure to the mainland. The boss man said he's going to help me find my parents. Y'know that person I told you about? Doyle?"

"Yeah, I remember." She answered, quickly glancing at me before transfixing her eyes on the screen again.

"Well, apparently Syndrome found him. And apparently he was married once upon a time. And he and his wife had a little baby. And his wife somehow died in some mysterious accident. After which the kid they had was put up for adoption. Put up for adoption at the same orphanage that I grew up in. he remarried, they have a kid. A boy, he's 17, two years younger than me." I said smiling. Happy to unload this information on someone. Lizabeth raised her eyebrows.

"Really? That's sounds awesome. I'm happy for you Lily! Tell me everything, and I mean _everything_, when you get back, okay?" she said, stressing the second _everything_. I nodded wildly.

"Sure thing Lizzie. I gotta get going. I'll see you, okay?" I said eyeing the clock at the corner of a computer screen near me.

"Yes, good luck" she said. We hugged quickly than I ran off, taking care in throwing her a wave over my shoulder before I was out of sight.

---

I was on a plane now. On my way to the mainland with Ginger next to me. I wasn't nervous. I mean what's to be nervous about? I was just on my way to meet a man that was probably my father. So what if he gave me up for adoption after my mom died. That could all be chalked up to grief, right? I would be able to figure out who my family was. Its horrible yeah that my mom died. I had cried when I found out. But I guess you cant miss what you never had. But now I had the chance to find out who my dad was.

I'm trying not to get my hopes up. Its not like my father, who I haven't seen since I was two, when my mom died, is going to see me and say 'hey, I didn't mean to give you up. Come live with me and my family.' But, I couldn't help but wish. I could visit them on the holidays. And send Wesley, my half-brother, gifts on his birthday. I could be that awesome sister, the kind that got him out of trouble.

Maybe I could ask him about the book. Was it some sort of romantic gift? Is there a story behind it? If so, I want to know it. What about my eyes, did I get grey eyes from my dad? My hair? Did I get my mom's nose? What about my skin color? Who did I get the olive skin tone from? How did mom die? How did you meet her? Was she beautiful? Who did I get my height from? Did I look more like my mom? Or my dad? So nothing to be nervous about, right? Right?

I was shaken from my inner game of 20 questions by someone placing their hand over mine. My hands were folded together in my lap, I was looking at them. I brought my head up and saw Ginger looking at me. I looked away quickly and blushed. Why did he make me blush like a seventh grader? And why did he smirk whenever I did?

"Hey" he said. He grabbed one of my hands in his.

"Hey" I spoke into my lap.

"You nervous?" he asked. _Awww, he cares. _No stop that mind. Don't you dare.

"Course not" I said, wishing that I myself believed that.

---

"Hey, you sure you don't need me to go with you?" Buddy asked me for about the third time. I was already almost out the door when he asked me again. I did want him to come, but I felt this was something I needed to do alone. I took another look around the expensive hotel room. I still cant believe that he had gotten this expensive room. Not really a room, more like a suite. I had never been in a suite before. Its kind of cool. The bathroom had a Jacuzzi as a bathtub. And a separate dining room. And a kitchen. It was cooler than my room back on the island. It was amazing! Ginger was looking at me again.

"Yeah, I'm sure." I said.

"Well, good. I have more important things to do anyway" he said. God, he can be such a child sometimes!

"Then why did you even….you know what?" I said, sounding defeated. "I don't care. I just…I'll see you later" I walked out. I shut the door behind me and leaned against it. I took a moment to think that the next time I walked through that door I would have the answers to the questions I've been asking since I was a kid. I took a deep breath and went downstairs to catch a cab.

---

"…and you see, that's why I feel it's better for both parties if we just have you forget everything about Doyle Fortunson, and his family. That you just forget you ever came here. You walk out that door and stop asking questions. My client has a very important political career he has to worry about, and I hope you can see how it would just be best if this dirty laundry wasn't exposed." The man sitting in front of me told said. He wasn't my father, no. He was my father's _lawyer. _My father hasn't even said one word. He sat there reclining on his expensive leather couch, in his multi-story mansion, in the rich part of town that I always dreamed of living in. he acted as if someone's life wasn't ending right in front of him. I stared off ahead. Tears swimming around in my eyes. _My daddy didn't want me…._

"I…I…" I sputtered out. "I want to know….about the book. _Where the red fern grows._" If I came away with anything, I wanted it to be this. My _father_ finally showed some kind of reaction. His eyes flashed.

"Well, I haven't heard of that book since, well since Lucietta was murdered." _Lucietta, mom. Murder?_ "I gave that book to her, as a present when I was courting her. You see she was a beautiful woman, well before I found out _what _she was, that is. That was her favorite book when she was younger."

"But…what happened to her?" I asked. And odd tear or two slipping to the carpet. It was Doyle's lawyer decided to answer this question.

"I'm sorry, but my client is not going to answer that question." The chipper young lawyer said.

"Now please, I would like you to leave. Soon, before I ask the police to escort you out" Doyle said. I stood to leave. I found what I came for. As heartbreaking as it was. I was trying to keep strong. I didn't want him to see how much this was truly hurting me. I turned preparing myself to leave. But not before a voice stopped me. At first I was expecting it to be saying 'just kidding, come back here and give your father a hug.'

"And by the way, I would like the book back. It was a priceless family heirloom. And I would like it if it stayed in the _family._" Doyle said. I whirled around, gaping at him. _After all this. After everything, he has the nerve to ask for the one thing I have to remember my mother. _I stared at them. How could they?

"I wish I could, but I threw it away" I said. Enjoying the look on Doyle's face when the words reached his eyes. His eyes narrowed. I turned away. Smiling defiantly. I faced the door now, relishing my last few moments in this house. I was out of sight from the Doyle and his minion. I was stopped by a hand on my shoulder. I turned to see a young man. His hair was shaggy and black. _Like mine_. He had sad looking blue eyes. _Like his._

"Hi, um…yeah, hey. I want you to take this. It should answer your of the question that you may have. I'm sure dad won't need It now." he thrust a manila envelope in my hands. I stared up at him clueless.

"Who….."

"Oh, of course. I'm Wesley. And hi. I'm your little brother. Well, technically half-brother. Now go quick. Dad means it when he says he'll call the cops." He said with a smile that showed that he learned from experience. _Little brother?_

"Brother?" I squeaked.

"Yes, Brother. Now hurry up Sis'. Hey sis' I like saying that 'sis'. Hehe. Now go!" he said and pushed me out the door. I walked my mind spinning. I quickly looked back at the door, only to see a black mess of hair disappear from a window. I turned and walked down the brick paved driveway and flagged down a taxi. When the taxi was safely on its way back to the expensive hotel I opened the envelope and poured the contents onto the seat next to me. What came out of the envelope was a packet of photocopied papers from what looked like a journal, a photograph of a red headed woman with a black haired little girl on her lap, and a couple of newspaper articles.

I examined the picture first. On the back it read _Lucietta & Lily – age 2. _I stared at the woman. And at the girl. There were quite a few similarities between the two. The little girl had the older woman's eyes. Her nose, her lips, her smile. They could have been mother and daughter. But then, they were, weren't they? Lucietta was my mother. She was so pretty. And then there was me, a little girl smiling a toothless smile and eyes shining. Could this really be me?

I picked up the articles and looked over them. One was clipped from the front page. It had a picture of a masked super hero. The headline read '**local superhero murdered by nemisis'** I read over the article. Apparently this super named 'The Red Fern' whose power was the ability to control plants was killed during a fight with the current 'bad guy' she had sacrificed her life to save a nameless little girl from being crushed by one of his robots. They had a picture of the super saving the girl. The little girl appeared to just be two, with two long black braids that hung down her back. The little girl a lot like me.

The other article was smaller. An obituary of a woman named Lucietta Fortunson, wife of esteemed politician Doyle Fortunson, had died in a car crash. Even though the picture was in black and white I could see some similarities. I put the picture of me and my mother next to the picture of the super. Even with the mask on I could tell, they looked eerily similar. _They couldn't be the same person. Could they? Could my mom have been a super? _I put the articles down and picked up the packet of photocopies.

The taxi pulled up to the hotel and I got out. Taking great care in placing the articles back in the packet while keeping the packet out. I paid the man a walked into the lobby. I took a seat in one of the oversized arm chairs. I didn't feel like going back up to the room just yet. I flipped to the top paper trying to make sense of the papers that looked like they had come from someone's journal. I read through it quickly, with a couple of phrases sticking in my mind.

…_.out daughter was born today, she has her mother's eyes. Lucy wanted to name her Lily, after her aunt that raised her…_

_That 'Red Fern' super has foiled my plans again. If only she would stop showing up, I need to find out who her alter ego is. It would be easier to get rid of her that way._

…_I paid that the technopath to hack into the NSA's files to find the information I needed. I feel so betrayed. My own wife, how could she? Our daughter. What if she becomes one of those freaks? I cannot have it known that I am married to one of 'those'. Not after how long I've fought to outlaw these menaces…_

… _the plan has been made…_

…_after all I paid the stupid technopath. He was supposed to wipe them both out! Stupid Lucy, she had to sacrifice herself to save that stupid child! They were both supposed to die in the explosion that robot caused…_

…_I cannot go on raising this spawn. I could just put her up for adoption; say I couldn't bear to be reminded of the wife I 'loved' so much, turn it all to somehow benefit my anti-supers campaign.…_

…_the child is gone, good. One less thing, now I need to rid the world of the supers. Those menaces have been causing one too many problems for too long… _

My mind was blank. The words echoing through them. I stood. Gathering up the papers, and clutching them to my chest. I rushed my way over to the elevator pressing the button praying that it would come soon. I didn't want to break down in front of all these people. I kept blinking back tears. How could he have…my mother, his wife. He wanted to kill me? and for what? To further his political career? This guy was sick! He was crazy. He was my dad.

The elevator dinged signaling that it had arrived. I rushed in, only to run into a familiar red haired super villain. The packet of papers fell to the floor, along with the newspaper articles and the picture. And with it fell my will to stay strong. I burst out into earth shaking sobs.

"Lil? Um… are you okay?" Ginger asked, a little clueless on what it was he was supposed to do in this type of situation. I only sobbed even harder. All I wanted him to do is shut up and comfort me. I know that may seem a little selfish. But have you ever found out her your family was and then find out in the same day that your only surviving parent had wanted you and your mother dead? That your mom was a super that had died saving your life? No? So shut up and let me grieve.

I felt Ginger awkwardly wrap his arms around me. I still sobbed into his chest. I hope he wouldn't be to mad at the fact I was making his shirt all wet. I heard the elevator door slide open. I could feel Ginger tense. I heard a voice.

"Um…I'll go and take the next one" it said nervously.

"I think it'd be best if you do that" Ginger said. Jesh, he sounded menacing. The door slid closed again. I kept my eyes closed and could feel the elevator start going upward. I was still crying, crying so hard that it physically hurt. My head was pounding. I was moving now. My feet were lifted off the ground. I was being carried. I tried to take a break from my sobbing and tried to take some deep, calming breaths. Didn't work out so well. I cried some more. But this time a little quieter. Now the tears just fell silently from my face. I bit my lip to keep from screaming out. I was sad, I was angry. Pissed more like it. Jealous. Hysterically so.

The elevator door slid open again. I opened my eyes. My body shuddered. Ginger carried me out of the doors. Set me on the ground. He propped me up against the wall and returned to the elevator to gather up the papers I had let drop to the floor upon entering it. I watched him bend down and gather up all the papers in a neat little stack and putting it into the manila envelope. I was starting to calm down a little. The shuddering stopped but the silent tears still streaming down. He returned to my side. He held out the envelope. I grabbed it and held it to my chest like it was the only thing that was keeping me from flying off this earth and into space.

He plucked me off the ground. And held me close. He walked in silence stopping at a door and balancing me in one arm. He opened the door and walked in. He laid me down on the couch and walked into a separate room. He returned with a blanket. I was calmer now. the tears had stopped flowing. My head hurt. _I must look so gross._ I thought. He laid the blanket out over me and sat next to me and put his arm around my waist. I leaned on his chest and closed my eyes. I'm so tired. My mind wandered away. With the manila envelope burning against my chest.

---

I relaxed, for how long I don't know. I think that Ginger thought I was asleep because I could hear him whispering something. I strained to try and hear him, but trying to make it still look like I was asleep. I must have been doing a pretty good job since he continued on with his monologue.

"…_you know when I saw you for the first time I was kinda pissed. But I was also kinda amazed. You cursed me out on your first day working here. None of the people that work for me have done as much. And when I saw you outside that elevator I was thinking about being angry. Why? I don't know. Maybe I was a little hurt that you didn't want me there. And when you burst out crying I was angry. But not with you, no never with you. I was pissed at whoever made you cry so hard. And as soon as you wake up I will find out who hurt you so and I will hunt them down and have them killed. I don't want to see you upset. Especially not if I could have prevented it… _"

Awww, he's being so sweet. And he doesn't even know he's being sweet. He thinks he's lecturing out into empty space. But I could hear him. I could here every word. In the time I've known him he's never been this way sober. But is he sober? I took a deep breath, hoping not to arise any suspicion. I couldn't smell anything. So I guess he was sober. I wonder if he meant all he was saying. Well, I hope so. He thought I wasn't awake to hear him so maybe he was saying all this because he wanted me to know, but he just didn't want to say it. I guess he hadn't noticed yet because he kept talking.

"_I don't know what I'm really trying to tell you right now. Which is good since you're not even awake to hear me rambling. But I've been thinking. I like you Lily, I like you a lot. And not just like, you know. Like, like like. I know that sounds so grade school, so corny. But I don't know how else to say it. I think I might…you know. Well I hope you know. I might love you. I'm going to try and just stop talking now. But I don't think I can. You see, that's what you do to me. when I want to stop talking something about you just makes me want to spill my heart out and give it to you on a silver platter…"_

"Buddy?" I spoke out, breaking the illusion that I was still asleep. He tensed.

"How long have you been awake?" he said through clenched teeth. I paid him now mind. I lace my hand behind his neck a maneuvered myself so I straddled his lap. The blanket fell to the floor.

"Lily?" he asked, sounding nervous. Good, more fun for me. I smiled evilly. I shushed him. I leaned in close. I pressed my lips to his ever so slightly. I pulled away. He looked shocked.

"Are you upset, Ginger?" I pouted. His eyes lit. His lips tackled mine. He stood, taking me with him. He carried me to the bedroom. _Déjà vu? Again. _He dropped me down on the bed followed by him. It was the same as that night a couple months ago. Except I didn't feel any guilt. I didn't want it to stop this time.

---

**Yeah…sooo…I'll leave what happens next to your imagination. Now that that's over I'm gunna go throw up. Enjoy your day. Or night. Whatever. **


End file.
